20

Will it matter 20 seconds from now,
     when your salty tears reach your lips,
          and you first taste the reality of this moment,
     when your resounding screams of disbelief
          must finally stop to take a breath,
     when your dizzy senses begin to find their equilibrium?

Will it matter 20 minutes from now,
     when your heaving chest finds its living rhythm,
     when your rushing emotion, out of its necessity,
          starts to tire and slow its pace,
     when your veins stop pulsing angrily through the skin that protects them?

Will it matter 20 days from now,
     when your conscience makes amends
          with the stubborn will of your expectations,
     when your objective side
          seeks arbitration with your subjective side?

Will it matter 20 weeks from now,
     when your recollection of the cause of this moment
          fades into a shady grey area of details?

Will it matter 20 years from now, when,
     what was the matter, anyhow?